Clippers owner Steve Ballmer in the clear after NBA salary cap investigation

[p]But the NBA says the story contains major errors regarding the league's 11-month investigation, and the result will not be known until the probe is complete.[/p][p]The report, citing unnamed sources familiar with discussions in the matter, said the probe went beyond Aspiration, the firm first linked to financial deals with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leonard-kawhi/d4zqZuLO/"]Leonard[/a], to at least three other companies to which the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-clippers/vPeTYlqm/"]Clippers[/a] introduced Leonard.[/p][embed guid="e7230e66-5f97-4df8-9777-69685a1b601e" url="https://x.com/espn/status/2089397617897689263?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]But the report said there was no evidence showing Ballmer funneled money to Leonard through the firms, which had sponsorship ties to the Clippers.[/p][p]ESPN sources said a report on the probe was delivered in late July, and both sides have been negotiating to bring a resolution to the investigation.[/p][p]The league responded after the story was released on the ESPN website.[/p][p][b]"ESPN's article regarding the LA Clippers investigation - for which the NBA declined to cooperate - contains numerous and significant inaccuracies,"[/b] NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.[b] "The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded."[/b][/p][p]After Aspiration signed a sponsor deal with the Clippers, Leonard signed a 2022 sponsorship deal with Aspiration.[/p][embed guid="61ef6051-9ffc-4f6b-9d88-d23aad8cae2f" url="https://x.com/NBAPR/status/2089403698724184399?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]